“If the drug is approved, Vertex could still face challenges getting insurers to pay for it, given the somewhat questionable efficacy. Kalydeco costs more than $300,000 a year, although Orkambi is expected to be a little less expensive, because it is for a larger patient population and is not as effective. Michael Yee of RBC Capital Markets, for instance, expects the price will be $225,000 to $250,000 a year.”

“With the drug industry launching more expensive targeted therapies, the number of Americans with annual medication costs of more than $50,000 has jumped more than 60 percent to nearly 600,000, a new analysis shows.

The latest drug spending trend report from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts ESRX -0.32% (ESRX) shows 576,000 Americans with annual medication costs of $50,000 or more. That’s a 63 percent increase in 2014 from 2013 when 352,000 Americans had such high cost…Express Scripts said the number of patients taking at least $100,000 worth of medications almost tripled to 139,000 people in 2014 compared to nearly 47,000 in 2013.”